Auchenipteridae (Driftwood Catfi shes)
Auchenipterids are found in tropical South America
up to the Tuira River of Panama. They are often
found in crevices or hollow logs. Many of the
species can be relatively easily collected by removing
hollow logs from rivers and letting the fi shes
fall out. Others, such as Ageniosus, are generally
found in open water. Specimens of the unusual
auchenipterid Gelanoglanis are less than 30 mm
standard length (SL; Figure 6A), and thus far, each
discovered population appears to be a different species.
These rare, pink fi shes only come out at night
where they can be seen swimming through the middle
of the water column. Male auchenipterids, like
guppies, have a modifi ed anal fi n that they use for
internal fertilization (Meisner et al. 2000).